


Chronicles of Myth Volume Two: Into the Nightmare

by Rustedpixel



Series: Chronicles of Myth [2]
Category: Chronicles of Myth
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Morality, Multi, Psychological, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 11:38:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4390409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rustedpixel/pseuds/Rustedpixel





	1. Scene 1

Key events across all realities are destined to happen one way or another, as a Chronomancer it’s my job to keep the time stream in check, today I met a man who taught me the possibility of if, by all means he’s a nonconformist, to boot he’s the little guy in this battle; to be frank I never wanted to be a part of someone else’s war, regardless of who they might be; family or friend, it’s the worst kind of feeling to know you’ve been dragged into a fight against your will even though you know it’s for the greater good things; but I’m a sucker for the people in need, hell I always was, and I always will be: my latest basket case of a friend, Ashton has pulled me into the firing line to stand with him, ultimately that changes history; rewrites the previous tragedies that were to take place today, before meeting him face to face, I wouldn’t have given a damn about him or his team, but now that I did; it’s hard to just sit by and watch as mostly innocent people are about to be put down. You as a reader should know something, they might be strong or quick enough to dodge a bullet, or more accurately take a bullet to the head and keep moving only bite back at the people in their way, it’s the way they handle things, and I wholly respect that never say die attitude. So would it hurt to give way this time and throw ourselves into the ring, obvious answer: hell yes, why… because I just got punched in the face by my sparring partner. But you know what, I’m going to give them the benefit of a doubt; maybe we can the impossible happen, and I’m damn sure we will, even though the odds are stacked against us. As I speak, the previous mentioned team sigma have allied themselves with team xi, my people and I have some debts to pay back to them, and so we shall… in blood and lead; so right now, it’s a twenty on twenty death match, in comparison with our joint abilities; we’re the underdogs in every category, outmatched, outgunned, pretty much out-everything except for the gusto and balls to swing back regardless of staring death in the face. People say there’s a first for everything, I wonder if they meant everything encompasses a suicide bout against the things that go bump in the night… oh well only one way to find out, to be honest I’m feeling good about my odds… after all we have the best hand in the game.   
Ashton phased through my hologram with his straight, I stepped back and dodged his right hook; I caught his next straight and grabbed the collar of his t-shirt, I threw him into the pillar mat face first, he stood back up and shot forward in a superman jab. I caught his fist and pulled him close, smashing my knee into his face as I directed his body toward the canvas; I let go of his hand as hit the floor face first, he went for a sweep kick; on connecting he reeled back rolling on his back holding his left shin in pain. Ashton got back on his feet and shook his leg, “What other tricks you got tin man”? He said as he wiped the blood on his lower lip, he dashed forward and pulled his leg upward, I bent back and dodged his kick; he pulled back his leg and punched forward alternating his jabs, I swatted aside his arms before grabbing his shoulders; I pulled down knocking him off his feet and smashed Ashton’s face into the mat. I heard him grumble on the mat as he peeled off his face, he stood up and shook his head: Ashton lunged forward, he leapt up pulling back his fist; I caught his haymaker crossing my hands, he landed on the ground and followed up with a roundhouse toward my head, I blocked his leg raising my right arm, he pulled his leg down and kicked forward, I crossed my arms against my chest and blocked the attack; he punched forward as he recovered from the kick, I glanced off his arms against mine, I caught his fists and pushed forward twisting his wrists out of socket. As he popped his hands back into place, I punched his stomach dashing forward, he doubled over as I knocked the wind out of him, I grabbed his shoulders pulling him toward me and straightened his back, I beat down on his torso with fast jabs moving his body to the center of the ring, I wrapped my mechanical hand around his neck; raising him above my head I slammed him into the canvas; his spine broke in three places on impact, I let go his neck and watched him stand back up. “You understand I can kill you if this continues”. “Yeah, I do”. “Aren’t you concerned about your life”? His vertebrae reconnected and he cracked his back, “I’m not going to kick the bucket yet, I want you to fight like you mean it; I won’t say: I quit, otherwise”. “You’re going to be on your ass within the next five seconds”. “Prove it, I’m counting”. I slowed time with the stopwatch, “One” I heard his voice slur in the decayed state of time; “Two”, I stepped forward in a slow walk, I saw the disbelief manifest in his eyes as he looked at me as I moved like a blur, closing the gap with a slow walk I stopped right in front of him, in his eyes it would’ve been like I teleported right where he stood, placing my fleshy palm on his chest; I gently pushed him down as I saw his body drop a bullet through a block of tar, as he was about to touch the ground I snapped my fingers and time reverted to normal; he sat on the ground safely with his mouth open in shock. “Three”, he said as realized he was on the canvas when he looked at my knees instead of my eyes, I extended my left arm and helped Ashton to his feet, I let go of his hand and he raised his arms in front of him. I cracked my neck and the knuckles on my left hand as I clenched my fist, he dashed forward and leapt off the ground; throwing his body into a tornado kick, I glanced the first blow of my right arm, he touched the ground with his right foot and spun in the opposite direction and I ducked under the upward sweep, Ashton pulled back his leg, I dropped my guard as he dashed forward and punched me in the face with all his might or least he tried to, I bent my knees letting the punch slide past the tip of my nose, he stepped back and I straightened my posture. I pushed his arm aside as he punched forward, taking a wide stance with my feet I closed the gap between us I thrust my palm hitting him square in the sternum; I closed my legs together and punched his stomach, I pulled back my arm and threw my weight into an uppercut; on contact Ashton was knocked off his feet, reaching forward I grabbed his ankles and smashed the back of his head into the canvas, as he landed on the ground I threw myself forward and landed my knees; he bent his abdomen as he reached for my neck and I snaked my arms under his, dropping to my elbows I held his throat with my hands, we stared at each other in the eyes; his resistance gave way as he tapped my shoulder, I let go of my hold and sat down, I laid on my back eagle spread. “You certainly gave me a run for my money”. I said I took in a breath of fresh air, Ashton rest his head on the canvas, “What’s the record so far”? “1 win and 1 tie for me”. “And 1 loss and 1 tie for you”. “One last match”. Ashton said pounding his fist on the canvas, “Not today”. I heaved out, “Why not”? “It’s Christmas day isn’t it”? “You’re in charge for cooking for you team too”? I looked at Ashton, “It’s the least I can I do for them, after all they are the closest thing I have to family now”. I felt his hand touch my mechanical palm, “I still wasn’t sure if I could trust you, what you just said erased every doubt I had about you”. I saw a smile bright as the sunlight, filled with happiness and purpose; he had the same look of hope in his eyes accompanied by that spark of indomitable energy, as I did when I was a different person, “Damon the more I get to know you, the more it’s like looking into a mirror”. “You have no idea”, a tear welled in my left eye, as I remembered who I was; the man who thought like a child and believed he could accomplish anything, I wiped the tear leaving a bloody streak on my left cheek; “thank you for showing me what could be”. I said wiping cheek clear of the blood, it was never supposed to happen like this; in fact the entire matter would have figured itself out in a bloodbath, with all previous parties dying out, but now there is the prospect of all players walking away with their lives intact, so be honest with me… would be wrong to let strangers die, the acceptable would be yes, but do you truly believe that in your best interest to put your life on the line for people you don’t even know, because I don’t. A stranger is still a stranger only up to the point you get to know them, and soon they become a friend, if you’re lucky; they become someone you won’t to let go of, to take it a step further… you want to protect those you love regardless of your safety. Soon we’re going to reach a crossroad of fate, and all the pieces will be in place over the next six days, in this time… maybe there is a prospect for a better future… the only thing I know for now is there are too many variables for a clean hit, to many players… previously Alpha and Sigma were going to duke it out, leaving me and my team to pick off the stragglers but now that fate is voided, we’ve all stepped into the firing line now… both good, evil and everyone else in between. And today the bad guys will save the day, probably.


	2. Scene 2

Before we continue, I’d like to apologize if the story seems rather choppy here and there; kids these days should know what I’m saying, like scrubbing the timeline in a video to get to the juicy bits of awesome and having no idea what the preceding context was; so I’m going to put this out there, if possible I’ll try to keep the main points as accurate as possible if doesn’t happen, don’t hope for much… my memory and the memory of others are quite lacking when it comes to fleshing the little details, now where were we ?  
I pulled on the door, and it refused to budge; I saw a red x between the twin steel bars; sweat beads formed on my paling skin, I’m far too out of it now… I need to end it now, “The match isn’t over yet”. Ashton told me as he went to his corner and brought back his swords; I went to the opposing bench next to the safety door and sat down, my heart raced and I felt like vomiting, I bit off too much already… taking a deep breath I stood back up before entering the ring, putting on my poker face I let my feet sink into the plush canvas; Ashton drew his swords and held one over the other; “You’re going to fight me unarmed”? “Yes”, I flexed my mechanical hand… I could feel nerves in my body pinch as I walked forward; “Then don’t come crying to me when I kill you”. “Fair enough”. I raised my arms in front of me, shutting off the sensation of pain, I forced my body into a second round of accelerated motion; I dodged the first swing tilting my body to the left, the sword swung down cleanly; I danced on the canvas, letting my body flow into the groove, I closed my eyes and dodged the coming attacks by imagining them playing out in my head. Then everything was still and in reaction I snapped the fingers on my left hand.   
I leapt toward Damon, he still stood like a statue as I reached toward him; crossing the center of the ring I was suspended in mid sprint, “What did you say about killing me”? Damon walked toward me and wrapped his hands around my pajamas, I was flipped in place and my eyes pointed toward the ceiling, he snapped his fingers and I was on my back; I got back up, and was stuck in place again, “Stay there, would you; I need you out of my hair while I get dinner sorted out… another thing, surrender while you can still run that mouth of yours, it’ll be the best choice for both of us”. “Rewind”, I felt my body rise into the air before I was suspended in place, tilting my head I saw Damon wave his fingers downward slamming me into the ground; bounced up again, I looked at him with my back pointed to the ground; Damon walked up to me and turned my body right side up, “I count to one then I get mad”. He let out a frustrated sigh, “One”. I was pushed into a column mat face first, “Rewind”. I was pulled back to the center of the ring, Damon saw the scowl on my face; “You don’t look like you’re in the mood to talk… so fast forward x2”. Before I could open my mouth, I was hurled into the mat and was warped back to the center of the ring, before being flung into the cushion at stacked acceleration, I peeled off the column before being slammed into the wall again. “I’m losing patience”.   
“Ne— “What was that”? I walked up to him and looked him in the eyes, he cried in pain as I clamped my hand down on the back of his neck and forced him to kneel, “In this field I am king, and I command you to quit”. Ashton stood back up, “I guess we’ll do this the hard way”. Stepping back I caught both of his swings with my mechanical arm, I threw up my shield causing the blades to glance off, I dashed into him locking his body in time and drove my fist into his stomach, snaking around him; I stood up and gave a quick pinch to the back of his windpipe, the room fell silent as he passed out from the lacking flow of oxygen, I let go of the decaying field around the ring; I caught the back of head and let Ashton rest on his stomach guiding his body down, putting his face gently on the canvas I heard the safety locks built in the door open, I bent down and heard stable breaths, “You’ve been through enough of a beating today, just rest for now”. I walked to the door and raised the temperature for the air conditioner, I looked at him before feeling a room temperature breeze; “at least he won’t freeze to death now”. As I closed the door behind me, I ran into a woman dressed in a set of grey sweats and fell into her open arms; she had a kind look on her face as she stopped me from falling over, “You’re not such a bad guy are you”? She let me go and I rest my back against the doors, “Well people say I’m a bastard with a heart of gold”. “I’m Elaine, nice to meet you”. “I’m Damon, and might I ask why you’re up so early this morning”? “To get my presents first”, she said cheekily; I stepped out of her way, and went past her, as I set foot on the staircase out the living room, I heard Elaine push open the door; “He’s out cold right now, you’ll want to wait elsewhere”. “I never said it would be anything carnal”. I felt a tear in my eye, “He’s in good hands. I hope that reckless idiot realizes how lucky he is”. “I’ve almost lost him before, I don’t want that to happen ever again”. I turned around and faced her, in her eyes I saw a look that shot me in the deepest corner of my heart, I saw the same genuine love I have for my friends in her eyes as Elaine nodded at me with a smile before walking into the training room and I walked up the steps as silence fell between us, stepping into an empty living room; all residents except for us early birds were still asleep in their rooms, I walked through the recreational area and into the foyer, as I touched the door handle I felt a foreign hand on my shoulder; the presence behind me wasn’t necessarily evil but it certainly all potential to wreak great havoc. “Let’s get the menu sorted out”, I said pressing down on the switch; “Even for a person like me”, I could hear his sharp teeth grate against each other as he spoke; “Your protégé does she wish to come with us”? “Astoria you want to go for a morning stroll”. I heard the sound of plastic cap touch the granite countertops, we heard the sound of gulping water before the glass cup was placed in the sink; the tap ran for ten seconds before a fragile looking girl with white hair walked in our view, she pocketed several vials of coagulated black blood in the bandolier around her waist; “Poor thing hasn’t had a decent meal since leaving the underworld”. I saw faint traces of red on her teeth as she smiled, “You’ve fasted with her, I’m guessing”. The man smiled as he turned to Astoria, “It’s a necessary evil”. “Nolan, I’m lasting off the blood cocktails just fine”. She stumbled forward into his arms, “But for how long, you can’t last off the stuff forever; you need to eat something before you empty yourself of whatever’s left inside”. She stepped back shuffling her feet on the wooden flooring, “Considering how I felt after eating Nikolai, I never want to put raw flesh from a conscious soul in my mouth”. “Technically he was made of dirt”. He said back, she chuckled, “The point is, I’m against it Nolan”. “Then what about the corpses and bones you binged on”? Astoria shuddered and walked up to him; she pinched his mouth shut, “Not another word”. Astoria let go of his lips, “You’re a smart man”. Nolan said turning his head to me, “It’s Damon, and the answer is no”. “Aren’t you going to hear out a desperate man”? “I’m the bastard with a heart of gold, not a charity worker”. “Besides I want to hear from her personally”. I answered Nolan, “Astoria is it”? I turned my eyes to the faint girl, she was practically skin and bones under her white armor; “Carrion shouldn’t be your first option”. I placed my hands on her shoulders, I guided her to the bench built into the wall; setting her down I sat next to her, “I know deep inside you know as well, you’re going have to resort to getting a kill and eating the remains of a life wherever it might have come from, and I also know it conflicts with the beliefs you have, but be smart and set aside those ideals, the crazy bastard has a point and you should listen to him”. “Would you believe me if I told you I dug myself into his hole”? Nolan walked over to us, “Astoria, I wouldn’t look you any differently if you ate a respectable stranger of the streets or a hooker in a back alley, point being those corpses you’ve been eating won’t satisfy your hunger after a while, in fact it’ll make the cravings worse”. She smiled at me, as she stood up; “Nolan you’ve been a good teacher to me and a better friend, thank you”. “Could the two of you wait here for a few minutes, I forgot something important”. Nolan hurried to his room and I heard the door open with a soft click, Astoria leaned against the wall and took a deep inhale; she let her legs dangle off the seat as she rested her head on the wallpaper; she looked at me and squinted her eyes; “you remind me of Ashton”. “Why is that”? “Forgive me for saying but you and he are the wisest jackasses I’ve had the pleasure of meeting”. “I’m guessing he say something like this: A happy life is made growth given by learning from stupid mistakes and the occasional success you just luck into”. “Not even close, he’d probably say something like this”. She cleared her throat, deepening her voice she tried her best impression of him: “Grab opportunity by the testicles, step forward regardless of the obstacles— “And punch the fuckers who won’t get out of the way in the throat”. I saw Ashton walk up the stairs out of the training room with Elaine supporting him with a second pair of feet to cover for the lack of balance he’s current experiencing”. They walked to the front door getting their coats of the wall mounted rack, Astoria chuckled seeing Ashton like this, “I’ve lived in a blur before I got here, this place is my home and right now I feel so happy that I can feel each day has its meaning… I finally feel like I’m living”. I smiled at Astoria’s statement. “Feeling better today, Astoria”? “What about the guy who just had his ass handed to him”? “Suck it up, you’ll better after getting some fresh air”. I leaned back on the wall, I heard sounds of a running sink and the soft squeak of rubber against the floor; Nolan and Ragnarok came out of their rooms, one with a wheelchair and the other with his boots, Nolan walked up to Astoria and lifted her into the seat; Ragnarok sat down on the bench, putting on his shoes he let out a yawn. “You remember what I said to you twenty years ago”? The sleepy look on his face changed in an instant to one of murderous intent, “I want to see you try as I rip the hope of victory from dying fingers as I mutilate the bloody pulp you’ll become”. He snapped out of his bloodlust and gave a timid expression as he pursed his lips and gazed at us as a crowd, “To my loving friends, I’m sorry you had to hear that; but this bastard and I have a score to settle and one more thing, who wants doughnuts”?


	3. Scene 3

We parted ways with our friends and walked three blocks left from the apartments, Ragnarok and I stood in an empty field with all previous signs of habitation razed out of existence, “I thought you wanted doughnuts”. I dragged my feet in the ash rich soil, clearing the dirt I felt my shoes slip, I looked down and found the skeletal imprints of greenery imprinted into a layer of black glass. “Damon, it can wait; right now, I want to settle the score”. “Time does change all things”, I said to myself; “tell me something since when did you start caring about the lives of others”? He smiled at my question, “I can’t answer that yet”. “Then what do you say to a man who’s seen too much”? I asked Ragnarok, “Tell him to get some shuteye”. I felt a smile on my lips to his reply, he drew his sword, it glowed with a crimson edge; when I shut out the distractions around me, I heard the edge hiss with cold rage, I formed a blade of chronitons at my cybernetic fingertips; the deep purple edge glowed with ferocity, a deep hum vibrated out of the edge as it coated over my mechanical arm; I held my blade at my side and Ragnarok took his stance. “You’re standing on latent remains of disaster”. “The remains of the catastrophe you sealed over, am I correct”. “Then I’m honored you’d bring here me”. “Enough chat, I want to bury the hatchet along with the soon to be scorched remains of your mind and body”. “Then come at me with every intent to kill”. He vanished from my sight in a blur of psycho energy, his body disassembled itself into slivers of dark pink light; he formed above me raising his sword above his head, “I intend to”! Raised my arm and caught his sword with my hand, my feet pressed into the ground from the strength of his attack: “Good, you’ve gotten stronger”. I was pressed deeper into the ground, the glass started to crack under my feet; I let go and dashed back, Ragnarok carried through the motion cutting a deep line into the ground. He ran forward using the landing for a burst momentum, I stopped myself and stepped to the left, Ragnarok’s thrust flew past me just missing my stomach; he stopped mid thrust and turned on the balls of his feet, I blocked the slash directed to my waist as I punched downward, he pulled back his sword entering into a back dash and quickly put sheathed it, Ragnarok shot forward in burst of speed, he drew out the sword in a wide upward arc; I stepped back, blocking each of coming slash, slowly charging my blade from the impact of his strikes. Closing the distance between us Ragnarok slashed forward in horizontal semicircle, I thrust my blade forward and caught the midpoint of his swords edge; he pulled back, and spun around keeping his sword close to is body, before slashing down; I caught his blade in mid swing and kicked his stomach, as he staggered back and I thrust forward slamming my fist into the ground at his feet releasing the concentrated chronitons in my blade, the bomb spread out thirty feet in each direction encasing us in a dome where the flow of time was stopped completely. Ragnarok was thrown into the opposing surface from the blast, turning his body in midflight he bounced off the curved surface, diving toward the ground he landed in a forward roll as I lunged forward; I thrust my blade, Ragnarok ducked into a slide; I stabbed downward and he threw his body to the right, hitting the ground he rolled his body to the left as I punched the ground where his head rolled by, spinning on his back he went on all fours and scrambled to his feet, he dashed forward and slashed upward, I stepped back; he reached forward with his left hand, turning on my feet I caught his arm I pulled his body through the motion slamming his head into the dirt. I put my foot right directly on his left shoulder, grabbing his with my hands wrist I twisted his arm counterclockwise, a loud crack echoed through the dome, I bent back his hand holding his wrist and forearm; dislocating it from the joint. I let go of his arm and shoulder stepping off his body, he popped everything I broke back into place and it healed in an instant leaving behind the markings of my hand imprinted into the skin; he brushed away my oil prints and cracked his knuckles pulling one finger at a time. “Desperation causes smart people to make silly mistakes, and you want to know something else: you’re trapped in here with me, not the other way around”. He placed his palms on his neck and turned his head to both sides, releasing an eerie crunching sound: he took in a deep breath of air, “I asked you watch after Kefira because I was afraid of what she’ll become if she stayed with me; I hope you can understand that”. A cloud black dust covered Ragnarok from head to toe, he turned into entropy itself; “this form of mine is my trump card, it also happens to be a mirror image of my inner self… quite disgusting isn’t it”. I saw the dust harden around his face into that of a doberman, his ears became pointed and his teeth grew into sharpened needles; his torso and arms became leaner, turning the body fat into pure muscle, I saw the dust cover his hands and turn them into a pair of large paws; sharp dirtied claws replaced his fingernails, from the waist down his legs became much more muscular and toned; as the transformation I saw the ground under him cave in from the raw amount of power he released, a coat of slick oil colored fur covered his normally pale skin and behind him I saw a long tail wave side to side. I looked into black eyes devoid of emotion, surrounding him was an aura of pure evil, I pressed the dial on my stopwatch as Ragnarok walked forward; “Impossible, how are you doing this”? With one step at a time, he walked through the decaying field like it was a normal flow of time; each step echoed like a clap in an empty theatre, “Where is your spirit”? He asked holding his sword with both hands, I quaked in my shoes as the words were choked in my throat; as he closed the space between us, my body fell on its knees and I looked up to see him still; “I refuse to kill you like this”. He waited for me to get on my feet and fight him, I forced my body to go against the common sense to run. I stared in the death in the face, and couldn’t move; with every step he got closer and the more my heart raced in terror, I stood there paralyzed by fear as he got within arm’s reach; Ragnarok touched my chest with his index finger, I was sent flying back into the opposite end of the dome; from the impact I left a crack the chroniton barrier slowly normalizing the flow of time, I felt blood start to flow from the back of my head. I sealed the cut as I stood back up, I manifested the rest of the armor on my body; with golden helmet materializing around my head, the visor booted up, initialing the rest of the armor into motion, I placed my stopwatch in the large ring socket on my chest plate completely charging up the armor. The screen lit up, I saw Ragnarok scratching away at my shields; “Discharge”. I sent him back releasing an explosion of chronitons, his fur smoked and I saw it grey from the sudden time acceleration; he forced the spot of hair back to the original color, “I thought you’d make an easy meal”. Ragnarok dashed forward extending his claws, I activated the thrusters built into my right arm; pulling back I readied a palm strike, charging the jets. At the last moment; I smashed my palm into Ragnarok’s nose, with boosted jabs I hammered away at the thick growth of muscle on his chest, I sprung up and smashed his jaw with an uppercut; landing, I dashed back I broke into a sprint and leapt into the air, I flipped forward and positioned my leg over his head as I slammed down my heel driving his head into the ground. I touched on the ground with my left foot first, I pulled back my right leg; Ragnarok shot up to his feet, he rushed me swinging his arms in front of him in a deadly storm of claws; I ducked under as he tried to snatch me off my feet, getting under his arms, I punched his stomach with the thruster running on all cylinders, denting my fist into the thick wall of muscles and tendons, he doubled over and I pulled back my arm; beating down on his chest with a flurry of speedy punches; with a downward shot to the groin he fell on his knees clutching his crotch, he recovered and I pulled back my arm cocking the straight; thruster lit up releasing a red flame from the exhaust, it grew brighter and brighter until becoming white hot; as Ragnarok was going to tear my head off in a lariat with his dominant arm, it feinting into a sharp left hook it hit my ear and I punched his face, his head flung back as hit his Adam’s apple; I was knocked to the ground, my head spun as I staggered up to my feet: my body slumped down as I forced myself to dodged his right hook; I staggered to the side as he punched downward, he raised his arms in front of him when I got to my feet, distracting him with a few jabs, I faked out of my straight as my head cleared; I dove aiming for his right side and rolled, I kicked his thigh and lower hamstring getting on all fours, he punched down smashing his fist into the ground, I turned my body around and grabbed his left arm, I shot up my top half and wrapped my hand around his thick collarbone; pulling down the forearm and dragging the collar with it I spun his body off its center of balance and slammed his back into the ground. In my peripheral I saw his l right arm fly up toward the side of my head in a furious hook, I raised my hand and caught his fist, I squeezed my grip breaking his fingers; he flexed the appendages and his body moved them back into place aligning them with the knuckles, he pulled his hand out of my grip and punched the bottom half of my right side; he threw me to the left like a rag doll once my grip on his limbs were loosened. I barrel rolled to the right to dodge his stomp, landing under his feet I crossed my palms above my chest and caught the large paw that grew around the shoes he wore, he pressed his leg down bringing the back of my hands ever closer to my chest, I heard the click of holster release; I saw him draw out a sawn off shotgun and he pulled the trigger pressing the barrel against the temple of my head, a loud bang echoed in my ears, I closed my eyes in fear but nothing happened, I looked at Ragnarok as he let go the transformation he fought in; his finger twitched in a position to fire and soon it went still along with the rest of his body, a sniper’s round tore through the dome and blew off the top part of his head instead of him splattering my brains across the ground; I saw blood spray up from his exposed windpipe, the aftershock from the caused the dome to shatter apart and dissipate into fading puffballs of deep purple light; a slight breeze blew through carrying the smell of grease and iron, Ragnarok fell on his back with gun in hand as the wind tipped him back, I saw his mouth twitch into a wide grin as he fell to the ground; he bent his knees and planted his feet, I stood up and felt my stomach churn as I watched his head regrow sinew by sinew, the tissues regrouped and reformed his face; keeping his finger on the trigger he slowly stood back up to look down the barrel of my assault rifle, “Can’t win a fight on your own can you”? I released the safety with my thumb, and he opened his eyes; I looked at a set of hypnotizing crimson eyes, lethargy overcame my limbs and the world around me fell silent, someone I loved was calling me but I couldn’t hear them anymore… their voices were muffled out along with all other sounds of life, a strange feeling overcame me; in this instance I lost the will to live as despair creeped into my soul and my heart sank into my stomach. I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside, every fear I had gripped my neck tighter and tighter; my vision blurred as I asphyxiated, I fell on my knees; the last thing I heard was the sound of running boots. Ragnarok left the field soon after, that’s twice I lost to him: why, what does he have that I don’t? I was lost in my thoughts, but could still hear faint sounds in the distance... it was relaxing lying around like this, but something was bugging… the nagging call of my name being screamed in the distance. I couldn’t respond… I didn’t want to respond, I couldn’t do anything… I didn’t want to do anything except sleep away the pains.


	4. Scene 4

I found myself in an empty void of white, lying on what was supposed to the be sky, my orientation shifted as I sat up, I looked down and saw an infinite stretch of nothing below; the world was upside down from what I could tell; it was like walking on the bottom of a ice sheet without the freezing water filling into lungs, but it was just as disorienting as if doing so. I walked forward in this desolate place, sounds of maniacal laughter echoed as I saw Ragnarok running around, he darted from corner to corner escaping me at the last possible second; I kept chasing after him and soon enough we started running straight, the white nothing stretched along as I ran and ran in an infinite loop, out of breath I stopped and leaned against the wall; I stood there for a brief moment with my feet on solid ground, the feeling of support gave way as I closed my eyes, I fell off the edge and into freefall. I landed after falling what was about a hundred feet, normally I would have broken every bone in my body from that distance but I was fine; I stood up and dusted myself, after taking twenty steps I found my Ragnarok standing next to a set of motionless gears hovering in midair. “For a logical person, your mind is quite the contrary”. He tapped the representation of my mind with a bored look on his face, I felt a sharp pain in my head as he kept playing with my psyche; “Stop that you’re making me stupid”. I walked up to him and slapped my memory of him in the face, I saw his head spin place; he grabbed his neck and stopped his skull from spiraling off his spine, he rotated his head back in place, “Can’t you be happy knowing you beat me again”? “No, I won’t”. He cracked his neck setting the bones back in place, I sat down on the ground, leaning my back on the gears I felt the cobwebs stick to my shirt; “what do you want then”? “Ask yourself, after all you’re looking in the mirror”. “What the hell”? My voice dropped as I turned and saw myself standing next to me, “I’m good cop your bad cop or is it the other way around”? “Who the hell are you”? “Silly you can’t answer a question with a question”. He sat down leaning his back on the right gear, “I’m the fun side you keep locked away in here”. He tapped my heart with his mechanical pointer, “You’re here because forgot the most important of living”. “What might that be, asswipe”? “Ask yourself, did you ever find a reason why you choose this path amongst all the others”? “I don’t know”. “Be honest, we both know you’re lying”. “No, I never found a purpose why choose to do this”. “As silly as it sounds, if I told you the reason you’d believe me regardless of the logic behind it”. “Convince me”. “There are no true heroes in life, if it compensates there are those who do good but for the wrong reasons; you’re no different, we all seek to gain despite our initial personalities, more often than not greed fuels our desire to pitch in; no one is an altruist, no one ever was or will be. Sure it’s under the right pretense, but so what… deep down, we don’t give a damn for anyone besides ourselves and those rare few who didn’t stab us in the back; tell me would you risk your life or the lives of your family for a stranger that doesn’t know you exist”? “Shut your mouth”! I punched my reflection in the face as I scrambled up to my mouth, “It’s the nature of all people to seek after what they cannot have, to mirror what they cannot become”; I kept up the blows, “It’s true we do good things for the wrong reasons, its true there isn’t a thing called an honest heart anymore”. He caught my fists and twisted my arms, “Then why do you chase fairy tales”! He roared letting go of my arms, I felt his arm rip through my stomach; “Why do you go against the desires in your heart, why do you persist in becoming something you can’t ever be”? His voice, shortly boomed in the void before fading out: “Because life is hard enough on you as it is”. I closed the wound in my stomach, the hole sealed completely leaving no trace of injury: I stood up, my reflection vanished and I faced Ragnarok once more. “You don’t have any belief in yourself or the world around you, it’s a miracle you haven’t quit on living”. He placed his hand on my chest, “You have the world in front of you, why do want to limit your potential to claim it as your own”? “You don’t understand, having the kind of power to know every disaster that will happen to myself or the people I love, I’m afraid of that time when it comes”. Ragnarok placed his hands on my shoulders, “Then change reality, time is represented in crossroads; it’s only a simple matter taking a different road”. “How can you say that so easily, even if the coming future can be changed to the best outcome, that can’t insure the same for what will happen down the line”. “It’s we have this power we can defy the laws of nature, we ourselves are anomalies; catalysts for change, but it up to the bearer to use their gift for good or evil”. Ragnarok kneeled in front of me and looked me in the eyes: “The first step is always the hardest… now wake up and spread your wings”. He vanished leaving me facing the motionless gears, I got off my knees and walked forward; my footsteps echoed in my ears, one step at a time I got closer to the gears. I placed my hands between the teeth, and the machine started to spin to life; the silence was broken by the sounds of grinding teeth, I stood at the middle of it all surrounded by countless cogs turning in unison; following the catwalk behind the control gears was a vault door hanging above the ground, I walked forward with heavy footsteps and turned the wheel. I felt a cool breeze, the more I opened the door; the more light came in; I heard chirping birds and the rustling trees, I was in a clean field with sunlight warming the green pasture. I walked out and faced a child, in his eyes was the hope for tomorrow and his smile was full of life. His body aged as he walked toward me and I was looking at myself, on my face was a light and joyful expression, in his eyes I saw inspiration and wisdom. “Spread your wings and let us fly”. I saw my face for the first time and didn’t hate myself for it, I had the face of a baby; except for the faint age lines under my eyes and in my cheeks; my nose was a little pointy and my mouth was small, I looked piercing sky blue eyes full of wisdom and deep down compassion. I smiled at my reflection and I was back in reality, under my back I felt fresh grass; my body was being shook and I felt something on my chest; hands pressed down and I heard the desperate cries of someone I loved: “Damon, wake up”! The voiced screamed, “Damon… don’t leave me”. My eyes slowly opened, it was Rachel; she was beautiful, strong… I looked into her tearing eyes, I sat up and was pulled into her embrace, “Please… don’t leave”. I felt her tears soak into my coat, for moment I felt a patch of grass in my hand; as my vision cleared I saw snow in my hand; Rachel buried herself deeper into me, I felt her greasy soft blond hair brush against my neck; I smell the iron off her skin, and oddly enough it was comforting; her warmth filled me with a sense of safety: “Thank you, for everything”. The sound of snow crunched to the right of us, I turned and saw Ragnarok for a brief moment, on his face was a smile and his eyes flashed with expectation; he turned his back and walked off into the sunrise waving his hand behind him. Rachel and I stood up from the ground, we looked around and saw no trace of him; was this an invitation, and if so what did I just walk into?   
I faced an old friend walking into the hazy witch bar, he was dressed in a sapphire blue coat with a pattern of grey clouds stitched into the hemming, under the coat was black three-piece suit, he lowered the collar of his white button down and straightened his blood red neck tie, “Zero how have you been”? “I’ve been well, do you mind having a game of pool with me Ragnarok”? “Not at all”. I placed my weapons on the bar counter and walked up to the pool table, picking up a pool cue I took off my coat, the fur collar brushed against my neck as hung it on a nearby rack, “Are you ready for war”? I aimed the tip of the cue at the white ball ignoring his question, “Cat got your tongue”? I formed the words in my mouth and spit them trying to avoid stuttering, “It’s the thing I want avoid the most”. I felt chills under my black sweater and thick jeans; I felt his eyes pierce into me, I quaked in my shoes: “It’s not such a bad thing to die for good, after all consider the benefits”.


End file.
